I left Corporate America four years ago to be a stay-at-home mom. It is the most rewarding, fulfilling, and frustrating job I’ve ever had.
I started a blog because I have a serious lack of adult interaction. This is a great way to get my thoughts out, and practice talking to people who are older than age four. Please enjoy my rantings about the life of a stay-at-home mom.
And remember, everyone looks better with a few shades of crazy on their faces.

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Wednesday, August 22, 2007

On Thursday morning, we had our waffle breakfast and daily Starbucks. Eric booked the hotel in Branson just for me because it had a Starbucks right there in the hotel. Have I mentioned how much I love my husband? That day, we got Eli a pomegranate smoothie, and we were all heading back through the lobby with our drinks when Georgia started throwing a fit.

We had to walk past the pool area every time we went to Starbucks. Every time Georgia saw the pool, she sat down and started taking off her shoes. So, every time we went to Starbucks, we could count on her throwing a tantrum. On Thursday, we were rushing through the lobby with the screaming girl, when Eli tripped and his smoothie went everywhere in the lobby. Eric hustled the kids out of there, while I apologized profusely. The employee went to get a mop while eyeing me sourly. I was fully convinced after that, that they had pictures of our family up at the front desk.

Then, we got ready for Silver Dollar City. Silver Dollar City is the big theme park in Branson, and that was our destination for Thursday. Their theme is that you are stepping back into the 1800’s, so it’s kind of cool. But I felt really bad for their employees since it was 102 degrees on Thursday, and they were all in long sleeves and long dresses. And sadly, 102 was the coolest it had been all week!

We stopped first and watched the guys blow glass, which is very cool if you’ve never seen it. Then we made our way back to the rides. I quickly discovered that Eli is a little daredevil. He wanted to ride everything. He was upset that he wasn’t tall enough to ride the big roller coasters. Eric was very thankful since he is the one that has to go on the rides with Eli.

They did ride the small roller coaster, and the big swings. Then we went off to the kids section so Georgia could ride something. This is when things started to get complicated. To ride most of the kids’ rides, you have to be either 36 inches, or ride with someone. Georgia is 34 inches. Not. Cool. Do you know what that means? That means I had to squeeze my ass in the back of a bouncing frog. I’ll tell you right now, those rides are not made for those of us with large bottoms.

I just rode the frogs and the carosuel. Eric rode the caterpillars. Both kids really wanted to ride the teacups, but get this – you couldn’t ride them at all if you were under 36 inches. I tried to sneak Georgia on. I picked her up while we were in line, so hopefully they wouldn’t notice how short she was. No such luck. As we were walking toward our teacup, I was stopped and forced to measure her. They kicked us off. Gaaaa! I felt horrible. Georgia was screaming because she wanted to ride the teacups so bad.

After that, we decided to get the kids some snacks. I had already spent about $20 on beverages since it was so hot. We needed someplace cool to sit down. We stopped at an ice cream parlor and loaded up on ice cream before moving on.

Georgia was very happy that next we got to ride the big train. Of course, I would just prefer a train ride, but at Silver Dollar City, they ride you out into the middle of the woods where the train is “robbed.” Dude! They really need to get some better actors!

Unfortunately, the day was not without injury. Eli had climbed up on some rocks to get a better look at a waterfall, and fell off, cutting the heck out of his arm. So, Eli and Mommy got to locate the first aid station at Silver Dollar City, which was very cool. They have their own little emergency clinic with EMTs tucked right behind the fudge shop.

After that, we stopped to get souvenirs. I decided against spending a lot of money on blown glass earrings, and opted for a coffee mug instead. Eli got a glittery snowglobe, and a big pretzel.

We finally made our way out of the park after spending the entire day there. We had to go back to the hotel so I could switch shoes because I was nursing a blister after 7 hours at Silver Dollar City. Then we headed to the Rib Crib so mommy could get ribs and a beer.

I think Thursday officially wore everyone out. While we were eating at the Rib Crib, Eli put his head down on the table and immediately fell asleep there in the middle of the restaurant. He caught the attention of everyone. It was a very nice change for people to be staring at us because we have the sweet sleeping child and not the loud screaming child.

We went back and put everyone to bed. We had to rest up for more activities on Friday.